Curses And Hexes
by MaryMcDonald
Summary: In Mary's final year of Hogwarts everything seems to be perfect, but Erik Mulciber has other ideas. (This is a sequel to 'Tell Me If It's Love')
1. Platform 9 3-4

A/N: TRIGGER WARNING - This fan fiction is all prewritten. It will include some dark themes:

-Rape - Not detailed, only suggested.

-Self-harm

-Torture

-Mild swearing

Read at your own risk.

* * *

Herbologist, healer, baseball player, sugar and spice, a pinch of sarcasm and everything nice- That is what seventh year Gryffindor, Mary McDonald is made of. At least that is what those who don't know her think. To her friends she is all of that and more. She is also loyal and kind hearted. Although, she can also lose her temper fairly fast and has an odd obsession over forks, but no one is without their faults. She has a small fear of flying and a bigger fear of abandonment. She would do anything for her friends and they would do anything for her. This year she will need them more than ever

Mary's face lit up as she pushed her trolley through the wall onto the platform and the red Hogwarts Express came into view. Since she got home after the camping trip she hadn't seen or talked to any of her friends, just so that she could get finished all of her summer homework. It was NEWT year so she wanted to get in as much studying in beforehand. She helped lift her things into the train before looking at the time. She still had ten minutes before eleven, so she turned around to find one of her friend. At that moment she was picked up and thrown over a shoulder.

"Oi! Put me down Black!" Mary exclaims, guessing at who picked her up.

"Nope guess again!"

Mary grins widely hearing her boyfriend's, Luke Harper, voice and hugs his middle, "Hey Luke."

Luke puts her back onto her feet and kisses her. "You smell like dirt. I like it."

"Thanks!" She giggles and kisses back. "You excited for our last year?"

Before he could reply though, another familiar voice calls out to her. "McDonald! It's been a while."

Mary takes Luke's hand and turns around. Scanning the crowd a little bit before her eyes fall on James and Lily who were walking toward them – Sirius, Remus, and Peter in tow. James's chest was pushed out to show off his Head Boy badge.

"Hey guys. Why aren't you wearing your head boy badge Rem? Not afraid to show off are you?" She grins as Remus laughs lightly.

"Sorry Mar, but this one here who is looking a bit defeated that you pretended you didn't notice beat me for it this year." He says as he claps James on the back with some force to send him staggering slightly. "Better him than me. He was always out of the common room at nights anyway, now he gets to do it legally."

"Congrats, James," Luke says with a grin. "How much did you have to bribe the professors?"

"I didn't bribe anyone thank you very much, you tossers." James replies with a hint of laughter. "I got head boy because of my unfathomable good looks, roguish charm, and unrivalled skills."

"Because you are so pretty strutting around the castle." Mary says as the train whistles.

"I don't strut, Mary Mack!" James calls behind him as Lily drags him away to the informative meeting.

"If you insist, Potter!" she calls back before turning to the rest of the group. "We better go find a compartment before they all fill."

Mary and the rest of the gang – Luke, Sirius, Remus, and Peter – board the train and joined Charlotte Clearwater and her boyfriend Marcus Coin in their compartment. The seven of them caught up with things between their last camping trip until present while they waited for the last two to join them again. After some time the door slid open as Lily and James find them, and at that moment seventh year Slytherin, Erik Mulciber also walks past with his few lackeys. He sticks his foot out to stop the door from sliding shut and leans against the frame.

"Get your own compartment, Mulciber." Mary states shortly, standing up to shut the door.

"Now, now... I just wanted a friendly talk. I missed them over the summer, Mar." He teases and runs his hand through his hair. Avery snickers behind him, but Severus seemed to be preoccupied with something in the hall so that he didn't have to look at the Gryffindor group and Lily in particular.

"You mean you want my fork in your arm again?" She says with a sarcastic smile.

Mulciber gives her a funny look. "What do you mean again, Mudblood?"

At that, in one swift movement, Mary takes out a fork that she had tucked in her pocket and stabs it into his arm quickly before removing it. "You might want to get that seen to. We have a long ways before we arrive to Hogwarts. Oh and I am a half-blood. Thanks though."

"Bloody Hell, bitch." Erik spits out and he holds pressure on his arm. "You better watch your back this year, McDonald. You won't always have your friends around."

"I don't need them to protect myself Mulciber!" She calls down the hall after him and his friends before sliding the door shut and locking it.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you, McDonald?" Sirius says impressed.

Mary shrugs as she cleans the fork, and answers sarcastically with a smirk, "When we were dating, yeah. Though I also recall you breaking up with me then daring me to kiss by current boyfriend who can kill you with the same plants I can."

"Touché, Mary. Remind me never to get on your bad side."


	2. Defense Against Curses

"Looks like we have Defense against the Dark Arts first with the Slytherins, followed by double Herbology with Hufflepuffs," Mary says as each student receives their class schedule for the year. She was sitting with Sirius, James, and Lily at the Gryffindor table.

"You are short a class McDonald." Sirius points out, looking over her shoulder. "You dropped Divinations."

"I spoke to McGonagall before summer and got an intern with Madam Pomfrey instead." She says turning slightly red.

"Intern? What's that?" James asks curiously.

"It is a muggle term to say that you are shadowing someone in their job." Lily explains.

"But you are always in the Hospital Wing helping her anyway, why do you need to intern?" Sirius asks.

"Do you really want me in Divinations after what happened last year?"

"No I suppose not. Though, it was kinda nice for the heads up." James points out, remembering that particular full moon.

"Yeah, well this year will be perfect." Mary answers with a reassuring smile and then points to the bottom of the schedule. "See, look. We get to take our apparition tests this year if we so choose."

"Mhmm..." James sounds unconvinced, glancing at his watch. "Not wanting to sound like Flower or anything (He grins at Lily when she rolls her eyes), but we should probably meet the others in class."

Mary manages to sit next to Luke in the classroom just shortly before their new Defense against the Dark Arts professor came into the room to start class.

"Good morning." The professor says as he sets down a jar that held what looked like spiders – that Mary shivered once seeing. "My name is Jared Dawlish. An Auror asked by Professor Dumbledore to come teach. As some of you may know my son, John, is in this room, but I will let you know that I will not play favorites."

Mary looks over her shoulder to see a Slytherin who she had never spoken to before burry his head into his book. Mary caught Mulciber's eye, who was sitting behind John, and he winks at her before she sends him a look of disgust and turns back at their professor.

"As an Auror I have special permission to show you what I will be today. As many of you might have been noticing in the Daily Prophet there have been rumors of a dark wizard gaining power, so you all need to know how to defend yourself. Now can anyone name me the Unforgivable Curses?"

There was a hesitation before a few hands slowly raised into the air. Professor Dawlish points to a pair of students. "What are your names?"

"I'm Frank and this is Alice." Frank Longbottom says as hands lower back to the desks.

"And your curse?"

Alice glances at Frank for a moment before answering. "Well there is the Cruciatus Curse."

"Brilliant! Good first choice." Dawlish says before opening the jar and coaxing a spider onto his hand. Using Engorgio he makes the spider grow before setting the spider down on their table and casting the curse, "Crucio."

At once the spider began to whither and twitch in pain. A few students screamed, but both Frank and Alice managed to watch the spider for a while. Alice started crying after a while before Sirius yells at Dawlish. "Hey! Will you stop? Can't you tell that it is bothering them? What kind of professor are you?"

Silently the Professor walks the spider back up to his desk to exchange to a different one. He then walks over to Sirius and enlarges the spider. "Perhaps you can give us another one Mr. Black."

Mary could have sworn there was a flash of hatred in Sirius's eyes before he replied. "Imperius Curse."

"Imerio," Professor Dawlish says quickly and in a moment the spider started to dance. A few people laughed, to at which Dawlish flicked his wand to hover the spider a bucket of water. "What shall I make it do? Drown itself? Or maybe have it crawl down one of your throats." He says softly as he lowers it back into the jar. With the laughter completely stopped now, the room was as if a Silencio charm was casted. Professor Dawlish reached into the jar and managed to catch the last spider, enlarging it he sets it on Mary's and Luke's desk.

Knowing the question that was on the tip of his tongue Mary shakes her head. Mary couldn't take her eyes away from the spider. Though Mary didn't hear him she figured Luke had given the answer because in a sudden flash of green the spider that sat in front of her was curled up, dead. When she finally takes her eyes off the spider, her face was drained of color and realizes that the professor was talking again.

"The first as provided by Mr. Longbottom and Miss. Fortesque, is a curse that inflicts pain on the victim. The second as so generously given by Mr. Black, gives the caster the availability of complete control over the victim. And finally the third given by Mr. Harper is the killing curse, the one curse that no one can survive." He pauses to look over the faces of his students. "Dark wizards like to torture you before killing you, so over the next few weeks I will be teaching you how to fight the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses."

After class was finished the group met Sirius in the hall (he had left after Dawlish explained the curses) and started toward the Green Houses. Sirius was muttering angrily to himself, "Why in hell is he teaching that in school!? Sure it is defense against the dark arts, but really! And with the Slytherins in class! He is just encouraging them to use it!"

"Padfoot… calm down." James says hesitantly.

"I will not calm down! I know perfectly well how those spells are used! My own mother used them on me before I got sick of it and left! You bloody well know this, Prongs! That professor has no bloody right to use those curses on us! Auror my ass!"

Mary stops walking to dig into her bag for one of the potions she always keeps on hand. She catches up and hands it to Sirius. "Here. Drink this."

"What is it?" He snaps, but takes it from her anyway and glancing at the blue tint of the potion.

"Just trust me and drink it. It will help." She says softly.

Sirius scowls at her gentle tone, but downs the calming draught in one go. As he hands Mary the empty vial the potion takes effect and his ugly scowl was quickly replaces by his normal goofy grin. He drapes his arms around Lily's and Charlotte's shoulders as the group makes their way out the front doors of the castle and across the grounds for Herbology.


	3. Study Picnics

A week later, Mary and Luke became swamped with the amount of homework that each of their classes required them to do. Even Madam Pomfrey piled her up with making potions she needed to get back into stock for the winter months. 

With the sun shining they decided to take a picnic and study in the field they found to be perfect for baseball. Mary received the food from the kitchens and Luke gathered their homework, then together they made their way across the grounds to their field. Luke spread the stereotypical red and white checkered blanket on the ground and drops his book bag onto it. Mary set the basket the House Elves packed for her in the middle and kneels on the blanket to start removing the food from it.

The elves had packed a plate of different types of sandwiches, a couple of bottles of pumpkin juice and butterbeer, and even included a bunch of mini lemon pies.

After sticking a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich in her mouth she pulls Luke's bag closer to her and takes out her Charms book, parchment, her quill, and a small bottle of ink. Luke opened one of the pumpkin juices before taking out his Transfigurations book and such to work on his own homework. For a while they did homework and talked small talk until the sun started to set. By the end of the day Mary was in Luke's arms and they were watching the sky silently.

"Is Sirius ever going to come back to Defense against the Dark Arts?" Luke asks out of the blue as he absentmindedly plays with Mary's hair.

"Hmm… Yeah, after we are done with the curses." She replies quietly.

"But wouldn't his grade be hard to get back up?"

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. James owled his parents and they in turn owled McGonagall and got Sirius out for a while. He just has to write an essay that explains the curses and says he understands each of them." She states and looks up at him. "Plus he and James skip class all the time in the last six years and somehow manage to stay in the top three of our year, just behind Lily."

"Yeah, I guess you are right."

"Aren't I always?" she says smugly and downs the rest of her butterbeer.

He laughs and leans down to kiss her before stopping midway to look toward the forest. "Hey, Mar? Isn't that Erik?"

Mary shifts to sit upright and looks in the direction he was. Sure enough Erik Mulciber was walking out of the tree line. His hair was a mess and he was pulling down his left sleeve over something black but they were too far away for her to see what it was exactly. Erik's face looked more angry than usual, which actually made him seem scary. He stops in his steps when he sees them watching him, then like a startled animal he walked at a fast pace to the castle.

"Looks like he has a secret girlfriend," Luke states nodding back to the trees.

"No. Looks like they just broke up," Mary says observing the Gryffindor girl who walked out of the forest at the same spot Erik had. She recognized the Gryffindor as seventh year Marianna Vasilova. Mari was a quiet girl and was almost always hiding away in the forest. Mary had never spoken to her, but she knew that Mari was a muggleborn which didn't really add up to why Erik was with her. When Mari saw them sitting on the ground she turned around and walked back into the forest.

Luke looks up at the sky before standing and holding out a hand to his girlfriend. "We better get back. Looks like curfew is soon and we don't want James to catch us out of the common room."

All thoughts of Mulciber and Vasilova left her mind as she giggles at the thought of James giving her detention and accepts Luke's hand. With a wave of her wand, everything from the picnic was packed away into the basket and she picks it up. Luke picks up his bag before they head back to the castle themselves, hand in hand.


	4. Mary The Healer

"Miss McDonald!" Madam Pomfrey calls, catching her attention, "I know I had you start putting together more potions, but I need your help out here! There was apparently a fight and Mr. Black needs your assistance."

Mary put down the ingredient she was just about to measure out for the potion and walks out to the main area of the Hospital Wing. She automatically walks over to the bed with the first Black she sees, which happens to be Regulus but Pomfrey was already there, wrapping his hand in tape.

"The _other_ Black; I will take care of Mr. Mulciber and his friends. You take care of the others." Madam Pomfrey points over to the other side of the Wing to Sirius.

With a sigh, Mary starts toward the bed that sat a (now grinning) Sirius and for the first time looked around to see who all else had come in. Professor McGonagall was standing over James trying to Mary's best guess understand what had happened, Lily was with her and was glaring at her boyfriend. Charlotte and Marcus were also sitting on a bed. On the other side Madam Pomfrey was taking care of Regulus, Bellatrix, Erik, and Avery. Erik was staring at Mary as she stopped next to Sirius.

"What will I ever do with you, Siri?" She asks as she inspects his bleeding head, "What happened anyway?"

"We got into a duel that ended up as a muggle fight." Sirius answers after a while and doesn't expand on it. He flinches away from her hand when she pours a potion over his head wounds.

"Fine, don't tell me. I will ask Lily tonight."

"I told you! We got into a fight!"

"I can tell that much, Black." She replies calmly and dips a towel in water and takes his hand to temporarily wrap it. "I was hoping you would say why you got into a fight."

"Oh… Uhm… Ouch!" He pulls his hand away from Mary

"Wimp." she states factually pulling his hand back to her, so that she could finish healing his hand.

Sirius frowns at her lack of empathy and was about to answer her question when she walks over to heal Charlotte and Marcus who only had been hit by a few hexes. Mary then releases them and walks over to James's bed with a bucket of cold water that she then preceded to pour on his head.

"Oi!" James yells out as the water hit his head. He stares at her in disbelief and she makes him sit back down – her face expressionless. "Was that really necessary?"

"Do you doubt my abilities?" She raises an eyebrow at him then turned to Professor McGonagall and Lily. "I'm sorry if you got wet in the process of that. I needed to see if he was still in his right mind."

"She is upset 'cause I wouldn't answer her." Sirius says as he comes to a stop behind Mary.

"I did not tell you that you could move, Black. Go back to your dog bed." She growls at him and forcefully pulls James's hand closer to her to wrap it.

Sirius merely rolls his eyes and answers her original question. "They were talking shit against you, McDonald."

"So? Last time I looked talking about people was not against school rules, dueling and fighting however was. Am I right Professor?"

"She has a point Mr. Black. However I did get the full story from Mr. Potter here and will not be giving any punishment. Have a good afternoon."

Mary watching McGonagall leave before turning around to face Sirius, who was standing fairly close to her that she had to push him at arm length.

"They were talking about how you were a slut and were using the Imperius curse on your boyfriends, including Lockhart last year. They were talking about how you are an attention seeker and a suck up as you work closely with Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey. They were calling you insane and were debating whether or not to inform St. Mungo's to lock you up." Sirius says, not breaking eye contacted with Mary. "I couldn't just sit there and let them talk lies about you."

"They can talk about whoever they want. I'm not afraid of them, Black. Don't do this again no matter what they say or do against me." She states darkly before turning back to James to finish healing him. "You all can go. I have a potion to finish."


	5. Teasing Threats

Mary was walking down the corridor toward the Green Houses when she trips over a foot and her books sprawl across the floor. Not even bothering to look to see who tripped her she starts to pick up the books, only looking up when a hand picks up her last book before she could. Standing she turns to face Erik who was reading the back of the book.

"Why would you want to read a book about some muggle girl's father defending some black dude?" Mulciber asks even though he really wasn't interested in the book at all, "What does that have to do with a mockingbird anyway?"

"I didn't know you could even read, Mulciber." Mary says sarcastically and holds her hand out for the book. "Now I am quite busy, so just give me it back and I can be on my way."

Erik holds the book high over her head, "What are you going to give me for it?"

Having more dignity that what he did, instead of jumping for it she just moves her hand to join the other in hugging the books she had in her arms. "How about a hex… or maybe you want four holes in your other arm to match the first four?"

He moves the book to behind his back and with his other hand he fingers her hair with a smirk. "I was thinking something more personal, something that you don't mind sharing with half the other guys in this school."

"You'll have to Imperio me before I shagged you, git." Mary says in disgust. "You know what. Keep the book. I can get another copy."

She turns away and goes to walk away, but was stopped abruptly when Erik grabs her arm and pushes her against the wall. Pinning her there he leans in to whisper in her ear. "I will get you McDonald, and when I do they will find you dead in the forest."

Mary's expression turns to one of hatred and brings up her knee into his groin. When he pulls away in pain she takes the _To Kill a Mockingbird_ book from him and continues on her route to the Green Houses.


	6. Burning Memories

Mary was revising over her charms book with Remus in the courtyard when Mulciber and a few of his friends run past. Mulciber snags the book from her hands and tosses it to the side with a smirk before running into the castle. She closes her eyes for a moment to calm down before reopening them after hearing students talking among themselves, saying things like, "Is that smoke?" and "What do you think is on fire?"

Remus was staring in the direction that everyone else was pointing. "Mary… I think that's the Green Houses…"

Mary looks up at him then toward the direction he was looking. She automatically knew the direction and takes off toward the smoke; leaving Remus is the courtyard to pick up her charms book. The screechsnaps screamed so loudly that she could barely hear them, Fang however could hear them clearly and his barking could be heard from Hagrid's hut across the grounds.

By the time Mary finally reached the Green Houses she was outraged. The flame had already engulfed two of the houses and was starting consuming another. Professor Sprout and her current class were trying to keep the fire at bay without much luck. After yelling at a few of the students who were just watching (she scared them into helping), Mary also took out her wand and casted Aquamenti at the fire. When the fire was out, Mary walked past everyone - or rather they moved out of the way with fear that they would get stabbed - and into the burnt houses to inspect the damage.

The Green House that the fire was started included the Venomous Tentacula and the Self-Fertilizing Shrubs. It was also the Green House in which she kept her baseball equipment. It was all ash. She bends down and picks up a handful of the ash, letting it fall through her fingers as she fumes to the point that she was shaking with anger. She was way too pissed to even think about crying about it. She hears a quiet screaming in the second green house and walks over to find a screechsnap trying to find something to make it happy. She quickly runs to an untouched Green House and grabs a small pot and fills it with fertilizer. Returning to the surviving plant she gently picks it up and places it into the pot after cleaning it of ash. Mary returns to the untouched Green House and waters the Snap until it calms down. Walking back outside, she hands the plant to Sprout and leaves without a word. She storms past Remus and into the castle until she finds Mulciber in the Great Hall.

"HOW COULD YOU!?" she screams, "YOU UNCULTURED PURE BLOOD, SUPREMACY SWINE OF AN APE?!" 

Mulciber simply smirks which made Mary even more pissed that she was almost turning red.

"Is the little psychotic bitch, having an episode?" He muses. "Should I go get your blood traitor boyfriend?" he sneers, "How about your mudblood of a friend?"

She jumps at him, screaming. "YOU ARE GOING TO REPLACE EVERYTHING THAT WAS BURNT!"

Mulciber falls backwards onto the ground, just trying to avoid getting punched. Mary feels a few hands pull her off of the Slytherin, but she doesn't notice who as she struggles and tries to escape from their grasp. "LET ME GO! HE BURNT DOWN THE GREEN HOUSES! HE DESERVES TO BE STABBED WITH A FORK AGAIN!"

"Mary!" Someone shook her and Mary blinks a few times before she focuses on who was in front of her, Lily. It was then that Mary actually looked around. Students circled them, the younger ones trying to strain their neck to see what was going happening. McGonagall, Sprout, and Dumbledore were on the other end of the room, letting Lily calm her friend down. Remus and Charlotte were the ones holding Mary back. Mulciber was laughing as he stays pinned to the ground by Sirius and James – who both wanted to beat him black and blue but resisted as they only cared about Mary's safety at that point as well as the fact that there were Professors around and they didn't want to risk him getting away with it this time. "Don't let him have the satisfaction. Sprout and McGonagall have witnesses see him leaving the Green Houses right before they caught fire. He won't go unpunished this time."

Mary jerks free, turns around, and walks out of the Great Hall. Ignoring all the eyes on her and blocking out Mulciber's laugh. She had to clear her head and she couldn't tend to the Green Houses or even transfigure a baseball to look like Mulciber's head and swing at it until it fell apart, so she walks straight directly to the hidden room (the same hidden room that started her close friendship with Sirius the previous year and that she loved to be in if not in the Green Houses) to let out her anger. Once inside the room she yells in frustration and throws a vase at the wall. The vase shattered on impact so she threw another. She smirks as each broke and scattered on the floor around her - more vases, little toys, and even a few books. She threw anything that would break or give her a satisfying thump. Mary then picks up a ball and starts to throw it against the wall, but stops mid swing and looks at it. She sinks to her knees, letting the baseball roll from her hands and across the mess around her. She felt empty as she stares at her hands resting on the ground in front of her, every inch of her body shaking. Even though she knew everything was replaceable she couldn't help but feel like she had lost a huge part of her life. She could owl her parents to get a new bat and a few baseballs. Sprout could order more Tentacula and Shrubs. They would never be the same Tentacula and Shrubs that she took care of since seedlings. The new bat will not feel the same to her or will hit the balls the same way as the one she had almost worn out during games with her dad at home. Mulciber's laugh echoes through her head and unable to hold it in any longer she pulls her knees to her chest, put her head in her arms, and cried.


	7. Detention Body Guard

About mid-October on a Saturday morning, Mary was in the Great Hall eating breakfast with James. She was half listening to his rambling on about his plan on winning the Quidditch cup this year as it was his last chance to do so. In all reality she was thinking about Luke and how their relationship was starting to strain and she didn't know why. She was brought out of her daydream by Professor McGonagall stopping by them with Mulciber in tow. Having a bad feeling about this Mary stands up to talk to her formally.

"Miss. McDonald, I talked to Professor Sprout and she told me that she gave you permission to use the Floo-Network and pick out new plants for the newly built Green Houses. Mr. Mulciber still has yet to serve his detention for burning them down in the first place, so, on my request I would like you to take him with you. He already knows that he has to listen to every word you tell him to do." McGonagall pauses to look at James. "As Head boy I expect you go as well to see that nothing unplanned happens."

Mary nods, but scowls at her back when she turns to walk back to the head Professor's table. Without a word she walks toward Professor Sprout's office where they would take to Diagon Alley (there was also another fireplace set up for her to take to Hogsmead). After being made to follow, Erik follows Mary, and James brings up the rear to keep an eye on the Slytherin. Entering Professor Sprout's office she picks up a flower pot filed with ash and hands it to James.

"I expect both of you to be on your best behavior. We are only leaving to replace the plants that were lost in the fire. This is not a fun field trip. It is work." She states before taking a handful of ash and stepping into the fireplace. "Diagon Alley!"

In a flash of green flame she was whisked to a fireplace in Diagon Alley. She was dusting her clothes off when Erik, followed closely by James, exited the same fireplace. Looking around she realized that they came out into Flourish and Blotts. Silently she walks them through the book shop and into the semi-crowded road. She heard her bodyguard say something to Erik and Erik hiss something back, but she wasn't paying that much attention to them as she made her way through the street to the Herbology Shop. Walking up to the desk she starts talking to the shop owner.

"How may I help you, this fine morning?" The shop owner asks.

"Hi. Uh, Professor Sprout should have sent in an order form earlier. I'm here to pick them up." Mary answers, glancing behind her to make sure James and Erik weren't doing anything stupid.

"Sprout, Sprout, Sprout." He mumbles to himself as he shifts through a few files, and then he finally pulls one out "Ah yes. That was a big order. Venomous Tentacula, Screechsnaps, Bouncing Bulbs, Puffapods, and Snargaluffs. Yes. Now we ran out of Screechsnap and Snargaluff seeds the other week, but Dogweed and Deathcap in Hogsmead should have those."

"Okay. That was our next stop after owling what we were able to get here anyway."

"Let me put everything together for you then. Feel free to look around if you want." He says before going into the back to retrieve the things for Mary.

Mary turns and comes face to face with James's hands that were holding a plotted plant out to her.

"What is this McDonald?" James asks curiously.

"You should know that one already. We learned out them in our fourth year." She answers with a smirk and sneaks past him and away from the plant.

James brings it up to his face to smell it and almost immediately held it as far away as possible. "It stinks like Snivellus on a good day."

"That is because it is a Bubotuber, Potter." Mary looks away from her friend and toward Erik who was reaching out to touch a full grown Tentacula. As much as she wanted him to get bit, she didn't feel like curing him later, so she stopped him seconds before he got bit. "That is one of the plants you destroyed, Mulciber. Don't let it bite you unless you want to get poisoned."

She guessed that Erik did something to mock her when she turned away because James glared at him. Mary walked over to a black and purple spotted flower that she recognized that is used for flavoring foods.

"What does that one do Mary?" James asks, coming up behind her.

"Muggles believe that it is poisonous, but really when cooked with food it gives it a tangy licorice taste." Mary replies knowledgeable as she picks up the small pot it was in.

"You know quite a lot about plants. I can see why Pomona sent you to pick up her order." The shop owner says as he walks up to them with a medium box that was charmed to make it bigger on the inside. Mary motions to hand it to Erik, so he does just that. "Take the flower. On the house- It isn't getting any use sitting here."

Mary thanked him, made transactions for Sprout's order, and thanked him again before leading James and Erik out of the shop and toward the Owl Post. There she filled out two owl mail orders, one to owl the box to the Green Houses and one to send the black and purple flower home to her parents. Then they repeated the process when arriving at Dogweed and Deathcap by Floo-Powder in Hogsmead. She retrieved a box, once again charmed to hold all the plants, thanked the store owner, walked to the Hogsmead Owl Post to send the box to Hogwarts. It wasn't until they started walking back to the school that Erik started to cause trouble.

"Why can't we just use the Floo Network to get back to the school? We used it to leave." He complains as he walks behind Mary and James.

"Cause they closed the fireplaces after we left." Mary answered halfheartedly, not in the mood for his crap. He was doing so well too.

"So you say psycho bitch." He mutters to himself.

Before Mary knew what was happening James had his wand pointed at Erik's throat. Erik's hands were held up by his head is mock surrender.

"Potter!" Mary snaps, "You are here to make sure he doesn't try anything. Not to attack him. He is just calling me names. Very elementary of him don't you think?"

"Why are you standing up for him? He has been bullying you on and off for the last six years." James says, not lowering his wand and despising the smirk on Erik's face.

"He isn't the only one who bullied me, Potter! Are you going to attack Sirius or yourself next?" Mary asks angrily. "I remember quite well that you two picked on me for a few years before we actually became friends. All because I was friends with Lily and you were trying to get her attention. Am I right?"

James flinched slightly at her last question, because he knew she was correct. He slowly lowered his wand away from Erik (who in turn took a step back to enjoy the show), and turned to look at Mary. "Mack… I-"

"I don't care for any of your reasons you are trying to think of. I am right and you know it. Why am I friends with you? That is something I ask myself quite a lot." Mary says sharply, interrupting every time he tried to speak. "Yes I fell for Sirius. Yes I dated him. I sure lasted longer than any of the others he has so called dated. And I must say the sex was brilliant but why am I friends with him? Why am I friends with you? I have no idea. You guys are rude and a majority of your pranks are not funny at all. Sure I have joined in on your pranking before, but since I have my grades have begun to drop. I want to become a healer, and in order to do that I need a shit ton of Outstandings in my NEWTS.

You know what? Fuck you and your name calling. I am tired of your shit" She points to Erik then turns to point at James. "Fuck you too. I don't need your help to protect myself. I can do a damn fine job of it myself. You can talk to me if you land in the Hospital Wing or if you need tutoring in Herbology. I am done."

Mary turns on her heel and walks ahead to the castle. Leaving Erik smirking at the situation and James rooted to the spot as he comprehends what just happened.


	8. Trojan Horse

Over the following weeks, Mary had emerged herself in her studies – often hiding in the library or her dorm room when she wasn't in the Green Houses, Hospital Wing, or sitting in classes. McGonagall gave them a homework assignment on how to (legally) become an animagi. Sprout had given them the task to retrieve the fruits from the growing Snargaluff plants and write an essay on the uses – all of which Mary finished within half the period time so spent the rest writing her Charms essay on non-verbal spells. In Defense against the Dark Arts they had moved from the Unforgivable Curses (meaning Sirius was back in class) and moved to dark creatures like the Inferi. She wasn't attending the Quidditch games, and disappeared shortly before the after parties started. When James or Sirius tried talking to her she would use an excuse to get away from them, and only talking to a select few when they studied together. She turned down all of Luke's attempts to get her on a date and had ignored Lily whenever she brought up something other than school. Mary was determined to pass her NEWTs, and if this was what she had to do then so be it.

So when a sudden calming sensation came over her one afternoon while working with Tentacula plants, it was as if nothing was wrong at all. It was as if she was resting on a cloud, she was relaxed and not worried about anything she was just fretting over. She was so at ease that she didn't want it to stop and paid no attention to whose voice she was now hearing.

'_Mary.'_ The voice said softly._ 'I want to test something. Will you help me?'_

"Sure." She says to her voice.

'_Good. Take off your gloves and let the plant bite you.'_

Mary takes off her gloves as if it was her own thought and reached out to the Tentacula plant, which made a kind of hissing noise before biting her. She doesn't even flinch as the venom enters her body. Only pulling away when the voice tells her it was okay.

'_You better go take the antidote for that, Mary.'_

Mary walks to the back room to retrieve a small vial of antidote, and downs it with one tilt of her head.

'_Excellent. Now I just want you to go about the next few days as normal.'_

"Okay." Mary says to the voice, and waits for it to respond. When it doesn't she goes back to tending to the plants as she was before, except this time all stress gone. Shortly after, Luke had entered the Green Houses - looking for her. She smiled at him when he came into view.

"Hey, why was Mulciber in here?" He asks, walking up to her and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I didn't see him, but maybe he was in here on request from a professor." She shrugs and removes her gloves.

Luke frowns at her and takes her hand in his to look at it properly. "What happened here? It looks like the Tentacula got you."

"Oh yeah, it happened when I first got in here. It nipped me when I was passing to get my gloves." Mary lies then smiles at him reassuringly. "I took an antidote, so don't worry about it."

"Okay Mar. I just worry about you. You have been working so hard, I don't want you to overdo it." Luke says softly before kissing her.

"Yes." She says simply then giggles softly at his confused expression. "Let's go on a date. We haven't been one a real one in a while. It'll be fun."

"It is about time you accepted one of my dates." He smirks teasingly, "this Friday. Be ready in the common room around seven. Wear something cute."

"What's wrong with what I am wearing now?" She smirks back and glancing down at her dirt covered clothing.

"Wear something that you would see a muggle teenager wear to one of their school dances." He says in reference to what he was talking about.

"So something tight and revealing? I think I can manage that." Mary grins at him, before standing on her toes to kiss his cheek and snake around him toward the door to leave. "See you then. Love you!"


	9. Date of Stars

Mary stood in front of the mirror in her dorm room and looked herself over again. It was weird to see herself in a dress. The one she chose with Lily's help earlier in the day was red, strapless, and went just below her knees. Marlene had somehow convinced her to let her do Mary's hair and make-up and after some debating Marlene went simple with make-up and tied her hair up in a half ponytail and curled her long bangs. She barely recognized herself. She was usually always covered in dirt and it had never bothered her. Now she felt a little to clean, but that might have also been the nerves. All Mary could think of throughout the day was about Luke and worrying about what he had planned for the night. She looks down at her watch (her dad had bewitched it so that it would work at the school) to check the time. She tucked her wand into the belt of her dress and with a few strides she was opening the door of the dorm room.

As she made her way down the stairs to the common room she was hit with a wave of cheering that took her by surprise. On either side of her, her friends at made a tunnel from the dorm stairs to the portrait hole where Luke stood in a full tux and red tie. He had a sheepish smile and shook his head to tell her that this part was not planned. She heard Sirius cat call, but paid no attention to him. Her eyes were not leaving Luke's as she made her way through the human tunnel.

"You look beautiful Mary." Luke says with a smile as she reaches him and takes his offered arm. "You ready to go? Lily and James should be done clearing our route."

"Clear our route to where?" Mary asks curiously and with a tilt of her head. She wanted to try to get some idea what she was getting herself into, as she was going into this blind.

"Be patient my dear puppy." He replies, bringing one of her hands to his lips and kissing the back of it gently, "All in good time."

He waves absentmindedly behind him at the group watching them intently and leads her out of the portrait hole. The Fat Lady mumbled something about getting woken up right after she had fallen asleep, but had quickly fallen asleep once she was closed again.

Mary rested her head against her boyfriend's shoulder as she walked alongside him. The wheels in her brain were turning fast as she thinks of the many different things that he could have planned in such a short time. She was so preoccupied that she didn't realize that not once were they stopped or the fact that their path – too much dismay of the pictures – was lit up was small balls of light, which flickered out as they passed. She did however notice when Luke picked her up bridal style and started to carry her up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. About a fourth of the way up though, he had set her back down at what point she removed her heels and ran ahead of him laughing.

She slowed to a stop at the top of the stairs and her breath was caught in her chest as she took in the room. It was dark except a small section next to the open wall of the tower where a ton of candles were pre-lit. The candles surrounded their red and white picnic blanket and food fit for a King sat on that. Mary was brought back to reality when Luke touched her hand with his.

"I hope everything is to your liking. The candles are vanilla – you once said it was your favorite scent – and the food is all of your favorite, chocolate wands included. There is also a Screechsnap over there. It is the one you saved from the fire. I asked Sprout if I could give it to you and she said yes."

His mouth was opened to continue talking, but he was cut off as Mary stands on her toes to kiss him. This was more than anything she imagined, and the fact he remembered what she liked made it so much better. She broke the kiss and looked at his eyes. "You could have packed cow pies and had candles smelling like mold for all I care." Her eyes shone with admiration as she spoke. "I don't care what you do as long as I am with you forever."

"Forever is a long time. Do you think you can last that long?" He asks, kissing her again.

"I will if you do." She murmurs against his lips.

"Then forever we shall be."


	10. Twisted Words

The following morning, Mary was snuggled against Luke's bare chest in his bed and she had a smile on her face. It had been a perfect night, better than she could have hoped for or even deserved. She heard male voices in whispers, and realized that she most likely woke because she heard them return from where ever Luke had convinced them to go for the night. Deciding to ignore them she nuzzled as close to the body beside her as possible.

"Mary! Get up!" Luke yells at her from what sounded at the foot of the bed.

Groggily she sits up and rubs her eyes. Once she wakes up more she turns to look at Luke, except it wasn't. Horrified she scoot away to see who she was next to better. She was wearing one of Luke's shirts that covered her, but she was staring at had red short hair and not Luke's shaggy dirty blonde hair. The redhead, whose name she could not recall in her sleepy state, had stood up as soon as he could to get away from her. Slowly she looks around at each face in the room until she came to stop on Luke's at the foot of the bed. His expression was one of hurt and anger.

"What the hell, Mary? What are you doing?" Luke asks disbelieving his eyes. His dorm mate already told him that he had woken with her like that and he had nothing to do with it – he had tried to escape but with no success.

"I… I don't know." She says slowly, and then reality hit her like a brick wall. She quickly stood next to him and rested her head against his chest. With a few minutes of panic she had found herself on the floor at his feet. "Please, please, please. You have to believe me. I honestly have no idea what happened."

He gently took her arm and helped her back to her feet. Then silently he led her to the door and opens it. "Go. I don't want to talk to you again." He says, not looking at her, his expression blank. "Keep the shirt. I will give Charlotte your clothes when I see her later."

"Sorry..." Mary says as she pulls her arm out of his hand and glances down.

She walks from his dorm to her own to put on her own clothes, and tosses Luke's shirt in her trunk. Sticking her hands into her pockets she makes her way out of the common room and down the Grand Staircase. Her face showing no emotion – she made a bee line around groups of students and toward the Green Houses. She opens the door to Green House 6 and walked straight to the back storage room to receive trimming scissors. Instead of tending the plants like she normally would have done, she left with the scissors and headed to where Sirius kept his bike under an invisibility charm – so to keep Slytherins away from it – and held the blades of the scissors open between her fingers. Undoing the charm Sirius had placed on the bike she drags the blade along the bike's seat a few times before turning to attention to the side of it. At first she just engraved her name with a crossed out heart next to it. Then she added phrases like 'blood traitor' and 'mudblood lover' over any open covering on his bike. Once she was finished she stuck the scissors into his back tire before leaving the scene.

Her next stop before going back to the school was the Gryffindor changing rooms at the Quidditch pitch. With the Hufflepuff players hard at work for their training, they paid Mary no attention as she unlocks the Gryffindor changing rooms and walking in. With a single tap of her wand she was able to open James' locker and pull out his broom and uniform, laying them out on the bench that rested in the middle of the room. Casting Incendio on the end of his broom first so that it becomes un-ride able before putting it out, she then ruins his uniform by using different spells to make it also unusable. Returning them to his locker, she repeats the process with Charlotte's locker.

Later in the day, Mary walked into the common room as if nothing had happened to find it empty. Empty apart from Charlotte, Lily, Remus, and Luke who had his back turned to the portrait hole while Remus was blocking the stairway to the dorms and Lily and Charlotte were sitting on the couch with Luke sitting on the arm furthest away from her. Upon hearing the Fat Lady Thudopen again behind her, she turns and finds herself looking at James and Sirius who both had expression of obvious anger. It was Remus who spoke first.

"What's wrong Mary? Luke approached Char this morning upset, I have barely kept Sirius from finding you and punching you in the face for vandalizing his bike, and we have a Hufflepuff saying that you came out of the Gryffindor changing rooms shortly before James found his and Char's things ruined. So tell us, tell me, what happened?"

'_Say something and get out of there.'_

"Why? Why would I ever talk to a monster like you?"

At that Sirius, acting as the loyal friend he was, jumped at Mary – stopping short so not to gain four holes in his chest from the fork she kept in her back pocket.

"Mary. Please." Lily spoke finally standing and taking a step toward her best friend, but stops when Mary points the fork at her. "We are trying to help."

"I don't want help from you. You… Mudblood and blood traitors," she manages to get out with slight hesitation. She turns her fork on Sirius and James who had both tried to jump at her. "Stay away from me."

At this point they were all standing and looking at her, even Luke. They all either looked hurt or angry, or both. Turning her fork on anyone who tried to talk or step toward her, she slowly stepped around the two blocking the door and out the portrait hole.

'_Good job, Mary. Now meet me where we agreed this morning.'_


	11. Lost and Not Found

When Mary next awoke there was a tingling on her finger like she had been bit by a Tentacula and her head was pounding. Sitting up she places her hand on where her head was throbbing, only to feel something warm and wet. She pulls her hand away and flinches slightly when she focuses enough to see blood on her fingers. Deciding to worry about her head wound later she takes this time to look around her. It was dark, but she had been awake long enough for her eyes to be adjusted, and there was a cold draft coming from where she couldn't exactly pinpoint though she guessed slightly to her left. She shifted her hands and her fingers glided over rock. She felt behind her, more rock. She seemed to be in a cave of some kind. Her hair was down and a wild mess. She was wearing a white tank top she wore as an undershirt and her grey skirt that was part of her school uniform. Her shoes and socks where gone and there was a chain around her ankle that bound her to the rock wall behind her.

Trying to ignore the pain on her head, she tried to remember what happened. Then it all came back to her and she started to panic. She remembered a voice in her head tell her to do things. Glancing down at her hand she knew why her finger was tingling. Then she remembered the awful things she did to her friends. They would know that it wasn't really her who said all that? They were her best friends. Of course they would know the difference and come looking for her. Right?

She heard something move in the darkness so she stands up quickly (having to lean against the wall behind her to keep from passing out) and watches as the light from a wand come closer. The caster sent the spell out so that it filled the whole cave and her eyes fell on Erik Mulciber. He wore his full uniform, though the top two buttons on his shirt was undone and his tie was tucked into the front pocket of his jeans. She watched him intently as if he was a wild animal.

"You do know that your friends haven't even noticed you are missing yet?" He tells her as he shakes the first snow of out his hair. His voice was soft, which made him sound scary. "You disappeared two days ago. They think you are sleeping in the Green Houses since you are afraid to face them after ruining your friendship. Sprout and Pomfrey are missing you though, so the teachers are talking. There are them I suppose who care about you. Their teacher's pet."

"Let me go, Mulciber." Mary says quietly, her voice was hoarse as if she had been screaming.

"Did you know that is snowed for the first time this winter? The lake is so beautiful with the way the snow sparkles on the water. I would show you, but." He draws out the 'but' as if he was still debating. He takes out a black cloth from his pack pocket and walks up to her to clean the blood off her face before continuing. "The chain that is keeping you here isn't long enough. Sorry."

Mary stood still as he cleaned the blood away from her head. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of breaking her. She didn't even flinch away when he leans closer to her face to kiss her softly.

"Oh. I hope you don't mind. A close friend of mine will be coming by a few times to say hi to you. Don't worry. I made her promise not to kill you." He smirks slightly, but doesn't move away.

"Just let me go Mulciber. I won't tell anyone where I was. Please. You don't have to do this." She says quietly, her voice wavered slightly with the idea of death in the back of her thoughts.

"You don't know what I have to do or don't have to do, so don't pretend to know." He says darkly. "You have no friends to find you. You will not be leaving here."

Mary watches as he turns around and flicks his wand so that the light returns to the tip of it. Then she calls out to him. "Does Mari know what you're doing? Is that why you broke up?"

She watched as the light that outlined his body slow to a stop and for a split moment she thought that maybe he would turn around and reply, but instead continued until he and her only light source was out of sight. She backs up until she touched rock and slowly she slide back to the ground. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she sat in the dark and cried.

She had a small fear of flying, but a bigger one of abandonment. There she sat in a cold, dark, and damp cave – alone and abandoned.


	12. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

A/N: This is where it starts to get a little dark and may possibly include something triggering (as listed in the first chapter). Continue at your own risk.

* * *

She had only seen Erik once more since gaining consciousness and it was the only time she was allowed to eat. That was two days ago, or so she thinks. Thanks to the darkness it was impossible to keep track of time, so she wasn't sure how long she has been in the cave. It was so quiet in the darkness that if she sat completely still and held her breath, she could hear her heart beating in her chest. She would go insane if this went on for too long. That was if Mulciber didn't kill her first. Mary had yelled until she lost her voice. She had pulled on the chain and in many different directions until her foot was sticky with blood from the metal cutting into her ankle. She had cried until there were barely any tears left. She was lost again, but this time she may never be found.

Mary had been tending to her bleeding ankle when she saw Erik next. The light from his Lumos-lit wand that sat near the ceiling absorbed into the dark rock walls around them. He was silent as he set down a tray containing cold food and lukewarm water out of her reach and walked closer to her. She leant her head back against the wall behind her and fixed her eyes on a corner of the cave where the light didn't fully reach. Her eyes close as she felt his body press against hers and his lips on her neck, his warm breath against her skin. A shivering sound escaped her mouth when his hand slipped under her shirt. His movements were slow and silent. He moved up, kissing from her neck to her lips as he lifted her skirt up and ran his fingers against the fabric of her underwear.

* * *

Back at Hogwarts Luke was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room with the rest of the group. Charlotte had dared James and Sirius to wear lingerie for a day so they were spread out over the couch seductively, trying to make Char and Lily laugh. Remus was sitting on the floor with a book in his lap. The fireplace warmed the room and flickered light on Luke's face as he stared at it.

"Hey Harper, Cheer up! Not everyone can wear lingerie as well as we can," James joked with a grin, his fingers teasing his messy black hair.

"It has been a week…" He says vaguely and only looks away from the flames when he feels a body sit on the arm of the chair he preoccupied.

"Mary hurt you and the rest of us, Luke," Char says with a soft voice. "Just be glad it didn't go any further."

"A week, Charlotte!" Luke said as he stood up quickly. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you are not worried about her!"

"Well… I…" She stammers and glances at the others for help.

"Can any of you tell me that you are not worried?"

"Mate, I'm sure she is just hiding in the Green Houses or someplace and doesn't want to be found," Sirius said with a perplexed look on his face.

"It is snowing outside! She might be blonde but she is not stupid, Sirius," Luke said with an almost snapping annoyance. "I have looked everywhere and talked to anyone who might know. No one has seen her for a week. A_ week_… Don't you guys get it? We have been having fun for a week and she could be dead and frozen in a hole somewhere for all we know."

"I'm sure she is fine Luke," Remus says calmly and shutting his book before continuing. "But if you are that worried about her then we will start looking in the morning. It is late and there is no use in panicking now. It will only slow us down. If she is missing then we will find her."

* * *

Once the light of Erik's wand had fully disappeared, she forcibly wiped her cheeks dry and tried to cleanse herself of him, which just caused her to cry more. She couldn't stop him, she wasn't strong enough. He had won. She was alone with no one to care about her. The friends she once had were probably having some kind of party right now and not even noticing she was gone. She was truly alone and she had lost. Mary rested her head back against the wall and ignored the food that still sat out of her reach. She was tired and all she wanted to do was sleep, so sleep is what she did.


	13. Suspicions

She gazed at the raised wand, her eyes widening as, "Crucio!" was snarled in a menacing voice, she caught a glimpsed of bared teeth before everything was silent other than Mary's silent screams as the pain from the curse vibrated through her whole body. She thrashed against the stone cold floor until the curse was cut off for a few seconds before starting again. The pain was so unbearable that she almost couldn't mouth, "Stop."

Cora Parker, Erik's friend that he had mentioned would help, had decided to come visit Mary without the watchful eye of her husband-to-be and to test how strong this girl really was. She cut off the curse when Mary tried to walk. "What was that mudblood? Are you trying to speak to me?"

"Please… Stop…" She mouths again, unable to make a sound.

She grabs ahold of the half-blood's blonde matted hair and pulls her to her feet forcibly, unsilencing her. Cora gets as close to her face as possible and sneers, "Try again."

Mary tried not to flinch away from the Slytherin as she repeats herself, her voice quiet. "Please… Stop…"

Cora smirks contently, pulls the light back to her wand, and leaves the Gryffindor to collapse back to the ground.

* * *

Erik sat in the Great Hall early morning in December. He was absentmindedly pushing his eggs around his plate with a fork. He glances over at the Gryffindor table and finds Potter, Black, and Lupin discussing something in whispers. It was nearly a month since he had kidnapped Mary and could clearly guess that he was a suspect on their list by now.

"I visited your friend yesterday." Cora stated after sitting across from him and stole a bacon strip. "Whatever you have been doing seems to be working."

"You speak too soon, Parker," he replied dryly, standing to his feet as James and Sirius make their way over – Remus was following but looked like he was trying to stop his friends.

"What did you do with her, twat?" Sirius starts, his hands balled at his sides.

"Oh! Name calling. A five year old in trying to pick a fight with you, love," Cora says to Erik with a smirk and pops a grape into her mouth.

Erik just ignored her and kept his eyes fixed on Sirius. "No idea what you are talking about…" He paused with a smug smirk. "Oh and if you punch me, Potter here will have to use his Head Boy powers to give you detention because I have a room full of witnesses to say you started a fight."

Sirius vaguely hears Remus say something, but he wasn't listening as his fist came into contact with Mulciber's jaw. "Listen you pure-blood supremacy prat! Mary is my friend. I found her last year and I will find her again this year. If you have done something to her I will hurt you more than you hurt her. That is my promise to you."


	14. Regrets

Luke paced across the Green House. A small whine came from the screechsnaps as they started complaining about lack of water and sunshine. Charlotte was sitting on an empty table, watching her friends.

"You are making me nervous, Luke. Can you at least stop pacing?"

"She could be dead and I can't do anything to change it."

"Sirius and James are looking. They will find her."

"And I will still have done nothing to help, Char!" Luke stopped pacing and glanced at the screechsnaps. With an annoyed sigh, he put a light over them, after watering them, making a mental note to remove the snow off the roofs later. In a huff, he sat on the ground and stared at his hands.

Charlotte joined him on the floor and leant against him. "We will find her before the winter holidays. Just you wait."

"The last thing I told her was that I never wanted to talk to her again. Now that she is gone…" His sentence cut off as he took a moment to recover. "I need to find her and make it up to her."

* * *

Mary was bruised and cut up from head to toe. Her hair was a mess and she was beyond dirty. She still wore her original gray skirt that only covered the cuts and bruises on her upper legs. Her underwear was long gone as was her shirt that left her wearing a black bra. On her hips and both arms were bruises in the shape of hands and a few of the cuts were new while other have almost healed. She had put a few of the cuts on her arms there herself with a jagged rock she had found – Erik took it away from her when he found out.

She looked forward to when Erik came and welcomed new pain and his touch that she longed for. She still cried when he came, but she forgot why. She forgot why she was there in the dark cave. She longed for the pain Erik brought and flinched away from the pain Cora gave her.

Moments later came a light along with was Mulciber. Mary's heartbeat increased with each movement he made toward her. The moment he knelt by her she had pushed him to the ground and gotten on top of his body, her lips on his. His hand grip roughly at her waist, matching the darkened handprint perfectly, and her hands pulled at the bottom of his shirt.


	15. Knights in Shining Armor

Two days before winter break was when she was found, Luke was about to leave the Common Room when the portrait hole swung open and he came face-to-face with James and Sirius. The grins on their faces turn his to one of confusion and suspicion.

"We found her," was all Sirius said before turning and leaving with James again.

"Wait. You can't just say that and leave!" Luke said and ran after them, ignoring the Fat Lady's muttering. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"We were out on a run when we saw Mulciber walking back across the frozen lake, so we think she is on the island in the lake. We wanted to tell you before we went to see." James explained as they took the stairs two at a time.

"You think? So you don't know for sure." He pointed out, easily keeping up with them going down the stairs.

As they reach the ground floor Sirius turns to face Luke. "Go back. We have this. We will get her and bring her back."

"No! I am coming with you and you can do nothing to stop me!"

"Harper this is not a game! Her life is in danger and the longer we stay here the closer to death she could be. Go back."

"This is my girlfriend, Black! I am helping." He snapped at him. He pushed them out of the way and ran out the front door and in the direction of the Black Lake.

* * *

Mary was shook awake by rough hands and she instinctively flinched away, she relaxed when her eyes come to rest on Erik's face. He was working on taking the chain off her ankle and she looked at him with a confused expression. "What's going on?"

"I heard your captors talking. They intend to kill you." He lied to her, making his voice sound rushed like he had been running from someone. "I couldn't let them do that to you so I am getting you out of here."

She leant closer to him and kissed him. He kissed her back but quickly pulled away and draped his Slytherin robes over her shoulders. He helped her put on the pair of shoes he had brought with him and helped her to stand then he pulled her toward the mouth of the cave.

He hoped that they hadn't been able to get to the island as fast as he could, but he was met with a partly expected encounter. He watched the three Gryffindors closely and he did the only thing he could think of to try to get them to leave him alone. He kissed Mary once before shoving her in toward the forest. "Run Mary. I will hold them off. If they catch you they will kill you. Hide in the forest. I will find you again."

* * *

Sirius stared in disbelief as the scene that just played out replayed in his head. She had kissed Mulciber back. He had broken her and reformed her to his liking. He turned to Luke who looked like he wanted to punch something and shoved him toward the direction Mary had run. "Go after her. Don't let her get lost in there again. We can take care of him. Be her knight in shining armor this year."

"You have lost her forever," Mulciber said with a smirk, his wand in hand.

"You underestimate Luke," James says as he walks straight up to him and punched him in the face. "Git."

* * *

"Mary!" Luke yelled out as he ran through the forest, following the fresh shoeprints in the untouched snow. His footsteps faltered as the prints began to be joined with blood and after a moment he came across Mary.

Her back was to him and the Slytherin robes were tossed to the side. Her head was down with her eyes closed. The wind blew snow against her skin, but she didn't flinch at the cold. In one hand she held the knife Erik used to cut her with, the other hand held loosely at her side as blood dropped off her fingers and splashed onto the untouched snow beside her feet. She opened her eyes and quickly turned to face Luke. Her eyes hard and determined she presses the knife against her arm again and cuts into her skin. "You can't kill me if I am already dead!"

Luke acted on instinct as he ran and tackled her to the ground. He quickly disarmed her and tossed the knife to the side. He stood up and took a hold of her arm as she tried to run away again. His face showed hurt at how beat up and broken she was. It only took two months.

"Let go of me! I won't go back! You will have to kill me here!" She yelled as she struggled to escape from his grasp.

"Mack. I'm not going to hurt you. Please." He said with his voice soft. When it doesn't help he pulled her closer to him and kissed her gently.


	16. Happy Christmas

Luke opened his eyes and they automatically fell on Mary's face. She was healed of all bruises and cuts and she was alive and beautiful. He had never left her side from the moment she collapsed in his arms in the forest to the day, which he soon learnt was Christmas. Mary's parents, Sarah and Malcolm McDonald, had come into St. Mungo's every chance that they got and they tried to convince Luke to go home to his own family. He always denied, saying things like "I want to be here when she wakes up," and "I want to know her test results when they come in." So he stayed with her day and night. He often read out loud from one of his Herbology books or just talked to her about random things. He wanted her to reply. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. When he thought she had moved she never woke up.

Her parents came in around lunch; each holding a different type of plant that they set next to the Screechsnap Luke had given her the night before they had fought. He stood up and respectively shook Mr. McDonald's hand and hugged Mrs. McDonald back when she pulled him into a hug.

"Go home, son. You should spend Christmas with your own family." Mr. McDonald said with a soft smile. "We appreciate that you have been looking after her, but you look warn out."

Luke shakes his head. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm going to stay for a while longer if it is okay with you."

"Of course, honey. As long as your parents are okay with it too, you can stay as long as you want." Mrs. McDonald replied before moving to sit next to her daughter's side.

"Her healer came by last night and said that her tests had finished and they have the results. I told her to wait for you." Luke said and turned around when a St. Mungo's healer walked up.

"And wait I did," she said with a kind smile. "You two have a fighter. Not many people who come in are able to survive what she did. It is just a matter of waiting for her to wake up in her own time, but she will live. Our tests showed us that she not only experienced the physical abuse, but mental as well. She was put under both the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius Curse multiple times. They also showed us that she was pregnant-"

"Pregnant?" Luke interrupts and glances down at his girlfriend.

"Was…The amount of pain and stress her body went through she had an early miscarriage. She only carried the baby a week or two at most."

"Do you know what will happen to Mulciber?" He asked. He had to hold onto the foot of Mary's bed to keep from shaking with anger.

"At this point they had nothing on him. From what I know, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black had brought Mr. Mulciber back beat up and hexed, so he keeps going on about saving her from you three. Mary is the only sound evidence they will have against who actually did this and there is a big chance that she will not remember any of it even happening."

"That explains why they are the only two who haven't come to visit her. They aren't allowed too." He laughed darkly before letting go of the bed and shaking them slightly to get the blood running again. "What about me? I haven't left her side."

"They figure they can rule you out as a suspect because if you wanted to hurt her you wouldn't have brought her back to the school."

'_Lucky me_,' he thought to himself as he gazed down at Mary's face. Her parents took over the conversation with the Healer, but he wasn't listening. He wanted her to wake up.


	17. Hi My Name Is

Mary woke up two days after Christmas and was transferred from St. Mungo's to the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts a week later. That way she could keep up with school work easier. Every now and again Madam Pomfrey allowed her to walk down to the Green Houses, which was what was doing at the current time, wearing her jeans, long sleeved shirt, with her hair down. Why she was uncomfortable wearing her Gryffindor robes, she couldn't explain.

She walked into the Green Houses and almost ran into another student named, as she had just so recently learnt to be named Luke Harper. He was there when she woke up and had tried to kiss her. She looked down and hugged herself before mumbling, "Sorry."

"Mary, wait," Luke said as he reached out to stop her, pulling away when she flinched away from his hand. "How are you doing?"

Mary was silent for a moment before turning back, though she didn't look up. "I'm alright. I still can't remember who people are, so don't ask."

"It will come back to you eventually. Just give it some more time." He smiled sadly.

She slowly glanced up at him and was instantly drawn to his eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Ask as many things as you want to."

"Why did you try to kiss me?"

"Because you are my girlfriend and I love you." Luke said almost automatically.

"Even after what I did to you?" She asked curiously and continued when his face turned to surprise and confusion. "I don't remember, but people talk. They give me a funny looks whenever I pass them in the corridor. They whisper things like whore and how bad of a friend I am."

"Mary. I have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. You are brilliant at the things you do and you are the most important person in my life. What you did was not your fault."

"I'm not as sure as you are and I may never be sure. I'm sorry."

* * *

After her encounter with Luke she decided to visit her dorm in the Gryffindor tower. She thinks that it might help jog her memory. After saying the new password ("Flubberworm") she walked directly to her room, ignoring the eyes on her. Pulling on the end of her sleeve she opened the door slowly and came to a room full of people. Well, a room full of four people. Sirius stood quickly and moved across the room to pull her into a hug – to which she evaded and moved to the opposite side. There were two brooms next to one of the open windows which would explain how James and Sirius got into the room. Lily and Charlotte were sitting on their respected bed while James was sitting on Mary's. She pretended to ignore them as she ran her fingers against her belongings.

She could remember being in Diagon Alley and buying her school books. She could remember how to cast spells and how to heal someone. What she couldn't remember was people. It felt like everyone was a stranger to her; she didn't even recognize her own parents.

"Mary? Are you okay?"

Lily's voice pulled her from her thoughts and Mary looked over at her and nodded a little. It was a lie but she had no idea what to say to someone who was supposedly her best friend and she had hurt beyond repair.

"No she's not. She may not be the Mary she was before but she still has the same telling signs," Sirius said as he leant against a post of Charlotte's bed. "Her voice waivered and she bit her lip."

Mary closed her mouth and looked down because she was indeed biting her lip. It was weird that Sirius knew almost everything about her and she knew nothing about him. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for McDonald." James stated, running his hand through his hair.

"_Yes I do_," She snapped at him, taking everyone by surprise. "It's like I told Luke before I came up here. People talk, so I hear things. I'm a screw up. I said all these awful things to you and disappeared for two months. I have no idea what happened, but I suspect I probably deserve whatever it was."

"Has Luke not told you yet?" Charlotte asks curiously and sits up straighter.

"Told me what?"

Charlotte launches into explanation of what the St. Mungo's Healers told them what might have happened during the past two months. She told her that she had been put under countless of curses and had been cut multiple times. She told her about the miscarriage, which clearly points that her captor was male. She told her about the charges against Erik Mulciber and that he will be getting off with nothing as they have no evidence to go off on apart from the word of two 17 year old boys who had previously beat him up.

Mary had sunk to the floor and was in tears by the time Charlotte finished talking. She wanted to remember. She tried so hard to remember what happened to her or who people were and upon hearing a version of what might have happened was a tad too much for her to accept. It would explain why she didn't want to be touched or why she didn't feel comfortable wearing anything that wasn't long. She looked up as Sirius knelt down in front of her, appreciative that he didn't try to hug her again, and just watched his facial expression – that was one of loyalty and kindness.

"We should be the ones who are apologizing. We – I left you to fend for yourself. A few hurtful words shouldn't be cause to do that. I should have known that something was wrong when you didn't act like yourself. I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner. We won't ever leave you again. We are with you until the end."

"I may never be able to remember what people were to me before, but I am willing to start over new," she says softly and smiled a little. She slowly extended her hand out to Sirius. "My name is Mary McDonald. It is a pleasure to meet you."

A lopsided grin appeared on his face as he shakes her hand. "Name's Sirius Black and the pleasure is all mine."


	18. Love in a Baseball Stadium

A/N One of my friends *cough* Jake *cough* didn't like how this story ended so here is one last chapter to tie up any loose ends or questions.

Graduation. The Great Hall was decked out with House colors and the tables were gone just to leave the benches to sit. Half the room was for their family and the other half for those graduating. She had gotten enough NEWTs to get a job at St. Mungo's Hospital as a healer and she starts work next week. Her memory of people was slowly coming back to her although she still had no idea what happened for the two months she was apparently gone. Nonetheless there she sat in between Dorcas Meadows and Marleen McKinnon, two girls she never really spoke to other than in their dorm with Charlotte and Lily. James and Sirius were throwing notes to each other – most likely complaining that none of the group was sitting with each other and how alphabetical order by house was stupid. Mary agreed with that though. She cranes her neck to look over student heads trying to spoke Luke who was sitting with the other H's. When she locks eyes with him she smiles and looks down shyly. She had been told by many people that she and Luke were dating before, but she hadn't talked to him about it since. Mainly because she was scared that he wouldn't like her anymore since she changed a bit. She thought he was a beautiful human being and they had so much in common. He liked to talk about starting up his own Herbology shop in Diagon Alley after graduation and he was brilliant at baseball. Another part of why she was scared was because it made her sick to her stomach to think about a relationship – probably as part of deep in her subconscious she knew what Mulciber did to her and she didn't want it to happen again.

Once everyone had settled down Dumbledore took his spot behind the podium and spoke. "Seven years you have roamed these halls. You have made friends who will stay with you for a life time and you have made enemies who you have wished ill fortune to. Every action you did formed you to who you are today. I hope none of you regret anything. Before we begin Head Boy James Potter and Head Girl Lily Evans will speak to their peers."

With that both Lily and James stood and made their way to the front. Lily spoke first. "As Head Boy and Head Girl we are tasked with the job to speak to you today. We are supposed to talk about how our choices affect our futures. We started Hogwarts when we were eleven. We were children. And like all children we made mistakes. So yes our choices do indeed affect our futures, but it is okay to make mistakes. We learn from those mistakes and adapt to make our futures brighter. Sometimes we have lost things. Maybe you lost a parent or you fought with your best friend and you don't talk anymore. It isn't the end of the world. The ground in still turning and you can move on. You press on and change your world."

Before she could continue there was a loud bang as fireworks were set off and glitter fell onto everyone in the room. Lily turns to James and crosses her arms. His smug smile plastered on his face. "Sorry to interrupt that heart felt well-rehearsed speech Flower. I just felt the need to brighten it up in here on our last day!"

After a moment of cheering from the students (and a few scowls from the Slytherin pure-blood families) Lily ushered him back to his seat so that Dumbledore could speak again. "Thank you Mr. Potter and Mss. Evans – I quite enjoyed the glitter. Now I'm sure you all would love to get out of here so without further ado. Hufflepuffs first."

Mary made her way from St. Mungo's Hospital in the Ministry (she had just finished day five of work and was off for the weekend) to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Luke. She was dressed in a red sun dress and her hair was up in a ponytail. As she enters the pub her eyes automatically fall on Luke who pushed himself off the wall and walks over to her.

"You are beautiful Mar." He tells her with a smile. "And before you say anything I know you are unsure about these kinds of things, but I want to take you on a date."

"Okay." She says softly, matching his smile with one of her own.

"Wait, really?" He asks with a sound of slight surprise. "I thought I would have had to do more convincing."

"I may not like the feeling that something might go wrong, but I feel safe when I am with you and willing to give it a chance." Mary answers slowly.

"Okay good because I have tickets to a Red Sox and Yankee game in New York." Luke says with a grin as he holds up the tickets.

After both Mary and Luke recover from apparating to America they made their way (holding hands) to the baseball field. As the game plays through each ending, the game reached the 8th ending, with the Red Sox barely holding the lead. Mary's attention was drawn to the giant screen that showed her and Luke. Luke was looking at her with a smile so she turns to look at him and he kisses her softly. There was a cheer from the baseball fans as they pulls apart.

"I will be right back. Do you want something to eat?" He asks, the smile still on his face at her blushing. When she shakes her head no he shrugs slightly and moves from his spot in search of a food vender.

When he returns Mary noted that he seems really nervous, but she didn't comment on it. Before the 9th ending she found out why. He took her hands in his and started to talk really fast. "I know we have had our ups and downs, but so has everyone else Mar."

"Luke, what are you talking about? Mary asks turning to face him better and her head tilts slightly.

"Just listen." He says before pausing for a moment. "There is a lot going on as you are aware when you read the Daily Prophet and you are beautiful. I almost lost you before and I don't want to risk losing you again. So Mary McDonald. Will you marry me?"

Mary stares at him for a moment before lowering her gaze to his hands that now had a green velvet box that held a ring. It felt as though they were the only ones in the stadium. Her heart was pounding and her mind was telling her to run away before something bad happened. But she didn't run away or say no. Her head slowly nods yes. She still had no idea what happened to her, but she did know that he made her feel safe.

"Yes I will marry you, Luke." She says softly before leaning closer to him and kissing him.


End file.
